A film by Davis Simanis --Lithuania's selection for the EUFF Toronto 2016-- starring Ulrich Matthes. What is unsual about that? EXILED is the new European cinema. Shot in Latvia in Latvian, German, and Russian, a young Lithuanian writer-director features one of Germany's top character actors as the lead in his fiction debut.
The final year of WWI. German army surgeon Ulrich is sent to inspect a remote convalescent home for shell-shocked patients in Lithuania. The strange world he encounters, where reality appears more like fiction, is quite challenging for his cold rational mind. His fruitless efforts to remodel the place and an unexpected attachment to a mysterious savage boy from the surrounding woods lead Ulrich to discover his one true self. Very soon this turned-out sanctuary will have to make its last stand against the approaching madness of the war.
When asked how he managed to engage Ulrich Matthes --currently shooting the new Terrence Mallick RADEGUND in Berlin--, on a limited budget in a small country with a little-known director, Simanis said:
"It is an honor and a special experience for any director to work with an actor like Ulrich Matthes. He is loved and respected in Germany, and viewers outside Germany might best recognize him from the role in the famous film DOWNFALL about the last days of Hitler,
in which Matthes played the Propaganda Minister Goebbels. It was a very complicated and psychologically powerful role, he played it brilliantly.
It might be that this role was the reason why I had the idea that in EXILED, Matthes could play the Baltic German doctor whose name, as weird as it sounds, even before finding the actor for the leading role, was Ulrich in the script. Of course, no one would hope for actors of such level to agree to participate in films that are produced by countries they most probably haven’t even heard of, with an unknown director and without an appropriate salary. It was all thanks to a lucky coincidence and maybe a little bit of mutual attraction. Matthes read the script, showed interest and then we negotiated with the producer. Ulrich was ready to meet us halfway, both financially and practically, it was his creative choice. The famous novel of Robert Musil “Man without Qualities” was of great significance to me as well while making the film; the main character is also named Ulrich and his psychological Qualities, or rather the lack thereof, gave me the Inspiration for the character of the Baltic German doctor Ulrich. Turns out,
Ulrich Matthes has received the German Film Award for his reading of Musil’s Ulrich. So, that’s the coincidence of three Ulrichs."
Ulrich Matthes was born in 1959 in Berlin. His many award-winning stage roles include George in Edward Albee’s "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, Hamm in Beckett’s "Endgame” and the title character in Chekhov’s "Uncle Vanya”. His portrayal of George in "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” brought Matthes numerous accolades, including the exclusive Gertrud Eysoldt Ring for outstanding performance in acting and the title of “Actor of the Year 2005." Since working extensively for the theatre, Ulrich Matthes is not as often seen on the screen, but he has appeared (as an amnesiac projectionist) in Tom Tykwer’s WINTERSLEEPERS (1997), and in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s "Downfall” – nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film in 2005.
For his role as a priest released from the Dachau concentration camp in Volker Schlöndorff’s “The Ninth Day” (2004) the actor was nominated for the German as well as for the European Film Prize. Since 2012 he has been the director of the Performing Arts Section of the Academy of Arts, Berlin.
poster: Locomotive Productions
